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Thursday, April 28, 2016

Happy Friday Eve! I always love when the end of the work week rolls around! Recently I've had amazing plans for the weekends! Spring always means I am out and about doing things with friends, but this week I have great plans for Friday! Okay, so I don’t actually plan to go out and do anything, but I have something great I want to share with y’all!

I have been participating in the ConfidenceKini Challenge for almost 4 weeks now (say what?! time has gone by too fast!). And I bought this fancy new camera that records video, so I wanted to record my workouts for my own personal benefit to see my form and observe myself progressing. But since I am going to be documenting my workouts, I should hold myself a little extra accountable as well. So y’all are officially my accountability outside of the Instagram challenge with my #LGSisters.

Starting tomorrow, I am posting Fitness Friday the last Friday of every month on my YouTube channel. I will smash together little snippets of my workouts in a short little video for y’all to check out. My hope is that this will motivate me to get my rear in gear and workout with the camera rolling every morning. BUT I also hope it will inspire you to get your weight lifting on if that is the kind of fitness you want to get into!

So be sure to head over to my YouTube channel tomorrow to check out the first Fitness Friday video!

Tuesday, April 26, 2016

Have y'all ever meant to do something and then things life gets in the way?! That's what happened for me last week. I had been planning to unveil this cool new project, but it took longer than I expected to get ready and my friends wanted to go out to eat and well you get the picture. Life happens.

PS you'll get the whole scoop on the cool new project this coming Thursday!

I always feel like I have the best intentions of doing things. Doesn't everybody though? My friend's dog died a few weeks ago and I went out and got her a doggie sympathy card, but forgot to look up her address to send it to her. Now weeks later, I feel like it would just be a sad reminder. Your best intentions don't really get you very far when it comes to action.

NPG has this saying that made me go "huh" when he first said it. It's the 6-Ps you should always remember! Proper planning prevents piss-poor performance. I'm a planner. Like I always like to have a plan especially when it comes to meeting up with people or even just going though my work day, but I had never thought of planning in that way. It really is true and a good phrase to remember.

NPG says it to his crew at work. When they don't plan properly, their mistakes cost the company millions. Granted, my improper planning of not sending a sympathy card or not writing a blog post ahead of time isn't that bad, but had I of planned a little better and been a little more organized, I could have gotten the card in the mail and posted about my new project last Thursday.

Planning is good for more than just being reliable. It helps me to feel that I know what's going on in my life and don't leave anything or anybody out. Or you can use planning and preparing on a larger scale such as saving for your future. I know both of those make me a much more confident person.

Tuesday, April 19, 2016

When I first started thinking about confidence as my main focus for American Honey, I wasn’t sure how I would make it work. Could I come up with enough content? Would everything I wrote about be relate-able to confidence? Would this be something I really wanted to write about all the time on the blog? I had plenty of other questions running though my head. This was a huge step for me. After all, I hope to keep going in this direction for the duration of my blog!

As I was pondering over confidence, I recalled a time back in college. I’m not exactly sure why this memory stuck with me, but it did. At the time I was dating a Marine who was stationed roughly 5 hours away. I was also battling depression which didn’t make the long distance relationship any easier. He had come up for his long weekend and we had a particularly nice one, though we didn’t do much. But eventually Sunday came and he had to go back to the base. I remember being so sad I cried in bed for a few hours. Finally I was able to pull myself out of bed when it turned dark outside to go to Walmart to get some food. I remember putting on makeup to hide my red eyes from where I’d been crying and some nicer clothes to make myself feel better even though I didn’t feel that great. While I was there I ran into a girl from my French class. I didn’t know her all that well, but she was friend of a good friend of mine so I said hello when I saw here and kept on my way, hoping she didn’t notice my red eyes. Later on when I spoke to my good friend who called to check on me, she told me that her friend had saw me in Walmart and said I always looked so neat, put together and confident in myself….

Like I said, I’m not sure why that story stuck with me, except that it was a very nice compliment. But it really made me think about outwardly appearances. It is very easy to come across as confident in the 3 seconds you say hello in Walmart and keep walking by. It can even be fairly easy to seem confident in a 5 minute chat with a coworker. But that isn’t what I think of as confidence. When I think of confidence I think of somebody who is strong and secure with who they are, but honestly it means so much more than just outwardly appearances.

To me confidence is...

looking good.feeling good. knowing that I can do something (that’s easy or even something not a lot of people can do). knowing my strengths (and trying to expand them and use them whenever I can). being proud of my successes. following my heart and what I know is right. taking risks no matter what the outcome. being graceful and having grace.

And those are only a portion of what I think of as being confident. Confidence doesn’t have to come naturally, but it is something you have even if nobody is looking! It goes well beyond your looks, your physical strength or even emotional strength. It can be related to every piece of your life, and ultimately that’s why I decided that I should write about confidence in my blog.

I know there will be a point in everybody’s life where their faith in their selves is going to be tested. Whether it is getting the courage to get out of bed after crying for hours or just putting on that bathing suit and heading out on the beach, I wanted to share that you are not alone. You can build up the confidence to conquer anything and I want to be here to help you!

Thursday, April 14, 2016

Recently one of my favorite activities has been geocaching. I have been sporadically going on geocaching adventures for the past 5 years! And each time I mention geocaching here on the blog, I realize that I haven’t explained in detail what geocaching is. So for all y’all out there who haven’t heard of this amazing activity, welcome to the world of geocaching.

I was first introduced to it back in my junior year of college. A good friend was out on an Ecology field trip walking through the woods when she stumbled upon an ammo can filled with tradable things and a log. When she opened it up, she realized what she had discovered… a geocache.

So officially geocaching is a recreational activity of hunting for and finding a hidden object by means of GPS coordinates posted to geocaching.com but really it’s like an adult treasure hunt. Granted, there isn’t a pot of gold at the end or anything, but I always feel like I’ve really accomplished something when I find the cache I am looking for!

So now you might be wondering how you actually find them! They are all logged on geocaching.com. And the best part about it is that geocaches are hidden all over the world! I bet if you logged onto the website right now and looked at your location you would find one that was within a few miles of you! Once you have one that you want to find, all you have to do is get out there and look for it. Personally, I use my phone to hunt these caches. But if you really get into it you can purchase a GPS unit which I’ve heard does really well. (I think that’s going to be my next big purchase)

Honestly, why do it through? It sounds really stupid. That’s the question/statement I’ve gotten most. And yes, it does sound stupid, but it can take you to some pretty awesome places! I’ve been taken to some awesome river and lake views thanks to geocaching as well as some parks in my own back yard that I didn’t even know existed!

And as for why I do it? Well, geocaching is something that boosts my confidence to see my caches found numbers go up and up. Or solving a puzzle that has stumped me for weeks makes me feel like I can accomplish anything. I realize that geocaching may not be for everybody, but I do think that everybody should have a hobby that really draws out their strengths and makes them feel accomplished. When you feel like you’ve accomplished something, you are more likely to feel confident in your life. And that is why I geocache.

What hobby do you do that makes you feel like you’ve accomplished something? Do you often feel more confident in yourself after doing your hobby?

Tuesday, April 12, 2016

A little over a year ago I completed my first 10k. It felt so amazing to hear all the people standing out on the sidelines in the barely above freezing weather cheering me and all the other racers on. I knew I had to run it again when I crossed the finish line and felt that surge of energy that came out of nowhere. So I took the plunge to complete the 2016 Monument Ave 10k.

This time I decided I was not going to try to go it alone! I signed up for the YMCA 10k training team when I registered for the race. BEST. DECISION. EVER. Last year I didn’t walk/run/even think about completing 6 miles before race day. Granted, I did complete the race in 79 minutes, which was well within my goal time. But I can’t say enough about training before race day. It helps you out so much!

This year I spent the 10 weeks before race day training with my mom during the week and going on group runs on Saturday mornings. We slowly built up our mileage until we ran the full 6 miles with our YMCA group a few Saturday’s before the race. I didn’t do well during our practice 6 mile run. I felt ill and sluggish. [It definitely wouldn’t have anything to do with the fact that I donated blood the day before] We completed the practice run in approximately 76 minutes. I was so disappointed in myself. How could it be that after nearly 8 weeks of training and I had only cut 3 minutes off my previous time!

I had underestimated the excitement of race day! When I got to the start line this year I was a little leery if I could run the whole way, but I wasn’t nervous at all! I knew that I had put in my training and I had run the 6 miles before, albeit slow, but I had run them! The first mile seemed the longest. But somewhere in the middle of mile 2, it started to snow and I started focusing on all the people on the sidelines with signs cheering us on!

The Monument Avenue 10k has to be one of the best races to participate in. Granted I haven’t participated in any other 10ks, I have done my share of 5ks and one 8k and they don’t even compare to this one! As you run down Monument Ave, there is a band or singer on every block! You are never without somebody standing on the sidelines waving and saying good job!

Mom and I had set a goal of running the entire 6.21 miles and our secondary goal was to complete the race in 66 minutes. We were able to run the whole time, but our pace was a little slower than we would have liked. Our official time was 70 minutes. Which is now my newest PR – cutting 9 minutes off my previous time!

I am so glad I signed up for the race again this year and can’t wait to come back next year to try to set a new PR! Completing those 6 miles without stopping to walk or even get water at the water stands (I had a hand-held water bottle with me), proved to myself that I am stronger than I often believe and I need to have the more confidence in myself. I can push myself and strive to be better than I already am!

What have you done that made you unsure of yourself but you ultimately knocked it out of the park, so to speak?

Thursday, April 7, 2016

Hey y'all! Happy Thursday! I hope you are having a wonderful day and week! The weekend is just a stone's throw away, so can I get a big yay for that?! I know I'm super excited about this weekend for many reasons! But more on that next week, today I'm super excited to share something that is relatively new in my life but has really got me passionate about it!

For the past four or so years I've struggled with getting and staying healthy. And when I say I struggled, I mean it was a struggle. I'll be the first to admit that trying to lose weight and becoming healthy is hard. One of my biggest issues is staying motivated when it seems quite literally impossible to lift another weight or the scale doesn't want to budge. And in those moments, I felt like my personal confidence was the lowest it has ever been. So I began to wonder how everybody else did it?! What gave them the confidence to continue through the struggle and come out the other end with a success story?! After a few Pinterest searches for some new at home workout ideas, I stumbled on an amazing community that gave me the answers I had been missing.

Throwback to Summer 2013 when I was doing Insanity for fitness

I initially ran across an old workout from Lauren Gleisberg on Pinterest that looked easy enough to follow and I could do at home. But when I went to her website to investigate further, I began to believe this is what I was missing. (The pink header really drew me in -- I can't lie, I love anything that's bright pink!) The more I read her blog and workouts and saw the community she has created, the more I knew I was going to be hooked! So I bit the bullet and purchased her meal plan and signed up for the ConfidenceKini Challenge.

One of the main things that drew me into LG's fitness world is her personal confidence and how she shares it with all the girls that stumble across her website. She has created a whole community of #LGSisters that pretty much embody everything that confidence means to me. This is a community that is super supportive of each other! I couldn't believe how much love I felt when I began posting with the #LGAccountability hashtag on Instagram. Every member is proud of their success and not afraid to congratulate other when they've achieved goals as well!

If you find yourself in a similar situation where making progress towards your goals seems impossible, don't be afraid to seek out the encouragement of others. Having that community environment is one of the best places to share your struggles, express your desires and be proud of your successes! Confidence doesn't come overnight but with a little work and a supportive community like the LG community, you can make the changes you want to see!

I'm sure that the LG community isn't the only supportive [fitness] community around! What groups do y'all belong to that boost your confidence? (It doesn't have to only be about fitness either!)

Tuesday, April 5, 2016

Why hello there! Long time, no chat, right?! Well that will all change now! I have been doing quite a bit of brainstorming and mental changing of American Honey. I know personally I felt like I was all over the place and just couldn't focus in previous months. I can't imagine how y'all felt trying to read my little place on the interwebs.

So in the time that I've taken off from physically writing posts, I began brainstorming about American Honey. I really tried to focus on what AHB means to me and what I want it to mean to y'all. And finally I've come up with my purpose!

When I started blogging many years ago, I told myself my purpose was to connect with other people and to help somebody somewhere. Well, over the past three years, I've certainly connected with a lot of wonderful people and I'm so happy about the connections I've made. However I'm not sure I really fulfilled the helping somebody somewhere part. I made that goal too broad. I didn't really know how I wanted to help when I first started American Honey.

So let's fast forward to this past month. I had been thinking about how I really needed to write for the blog but I just didn't want to because I didn't know what I should write about. I had been researching a mission statement and trying to come up with what kind of help I waned to provide to that "somebody somewhere". And then it happened. On a random Tuesday I was talking with a coworker (about something totally unrelated to anything blogging or about anything in our personal lives for that matter) and I had an epiphany... I want to help others build their confidence.

The more I thought about it, the more it resonated with me. I wanted to help others with their confidence much like so many great women in my life had helped me build my confidence. To me being confident is such an important part of my life, I can't wait to start blogging more about it and wonder why I hadn't thought of it sooner!

So what does that mean to y'all? Well hopefully you'll know what you're coming to American Honey to read! It will be packed with everyday life and how to live it confidently! You will still see many of my favorite (and hopefully yours too!) topics such as workouts and health talk, recipes, fun stuff with NPG, crafts and a few other odds and ins that pop up every now and again!

I can't wait to start out refreshed on my journey with American Honey and hope y'all are just as excited as I am! As always many thanks to my loyal readers for your continued love and support!